Test Valley Borough Council has completed work to transform its Bourne House depot near Romsey and slash the building’s carbon emissions. 

It’s in part thanks to a government grant that it was able to crack on with the project and minimise the depot’s impact on the environment for years to come. 

The authority secured £95,000 from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as part of its Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, and after topping up the pot with £88,000 of its own funds, it used the money to install a new air source heat pump, solar panels, cavity wall insulation and LED lighting.

They also installed energy saving heaters in the vehicle workshop. 

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Environmental services manager Pete Legg talking to Cllr Alison Johnston about some of the new equipment (Image: TVBC)

The project is part of the council’s commitment to become a carbon neutral organisation after declaring a climate emergency in 2019. 

Salix Finance delivered the grant on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Cllr Alison Johnston, climate emergency and countryside portfolio holder, said: “This is a huge step towards our ambition to be carbon neutral, and we are grateful to the department and Salix for helping us on our way. 

“This is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work over the past couple of years, and by investing our time, effort and money, we will have a positive impact on the environment for decades to come. And we remain absolutely committed to doing everything we can to continue to cut our carbon emissions.”

Owain Davies, Salix relationship manager, said: “Congratulations to the council for completing this phase of their decarbonisation journey. The works offer a solid step in the council’s commitment to become a carbon neutral organisation. It’s encouraging to see their enthusiasm for the work.”

The government made the funding available for heat decarbonisation projects within public sector, non-domestic buildings.

Decarbonisation is the term used for the process of removing or reducing the carbon dioxide (CO2) output from a process.

This news comes a year after the council switched from using diesel fuel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in its fleet of vehicles, cutting carbon dioxide fuel emissions by up to 95 per cent.